Nursing homes concerned about coronavirus testing delays

Coronavirus testing delays are putting residents and staff of Rhode Island’s nursing homes at risk, according to an industry group.

“Today we are sounding the alarm that the lack of timely test results in our homes is causing harm to our residents and workers,” Scott Fraser, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Health Care Association, said in a statement Thursday. “Accurate and rapid testing is a necessity in coping with and managing this virus in our nursing homes and so far, we have been left to guess at where COVID-19 lies.”

The organization represents 65 facilities that care for about 7,500 people.

Older residents are particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus. About three-quarters of the state’s nearly 1,000 deaths from the disease have been nursing home residents.

A nursing home recently learned that six staff members had tested positive for the disease, seven days after they had been tested, Fraser said. Throughout that week, they interacted with residents and other staff.

The state is addressing the issue.

“We are working very hard right now on strategies to shorten the turnaround time for test results for Rhode Islanders,” Joseph Wendelken, a spokesman for the state Department of Health, told The Providence Journal.